


World Enough and Time

by AStrangeDaze (TerraRising)



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, probably angst, the author promises nothing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-08 07:11:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13453119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerraRising/pseuds/AStrangeDaze
Summary: Prompt: "An old phone in his grandpa's house connects Daniel to a call in the 1960's, to a man he didn't know he'd long to talk to every night."





	World Enough and Time

The phone is something he forgets about for months, something that he picked up and kept on a whim.

 

His mother had sent him up to the attic to clear out all the junk now that they were selling the house and moving his grandfather into a long-term care facility closer to Seoul. Sorting through everything crammed into the tiny space, Daniel had been seized with a sudden nostalgia at the sight of that old hand phone.

 

It was old and clunky, dusty and more of a brick than even his mom's old Nokia. He used to play with that phone when he was younger; his grandfather has let him use all manners of odds and ends from the attic in his make-belief. He had been a secret agent with that phone, a police officer taking an important call, a soldier calling home during the war.

 

Now it stares up at him innocently at the bottom of a beat up cardboard box filled with little things he had hoarded away in that attic and he picks it up gingerly, turning away as the dust flies into his face and causes him to sneeze violently. Laughing between sneezes, he fiddles with the large buttons; the dial pad was massive, almost the size of his Samsung. "I wonder if it still works," he muses out loud, pulling out the charger and plugging it into the wall with some difficulty.

 

The phone doesn't react no matter what buttons he presses and he chuckles; of course it doesn't, who was he kidding? Leaving it for the moment, he putters around the kitchen, reheating leftovers from when he visited his mom this weekend.

 

To his surprise though, when he comes back after a hearty meal, and washing and putting away his dishes, the screen on the old cellphone is glowing faintly. It takes Daniel a couple of minutes to figure out the controls and eventually he finds himself staring at the log of missed calls.

 

It's the same number calling over and over again, day after day without fail. Midnight on the dot, the list stretching back as far as Daniel can see.

 

His brows furrow, who was it? The question follows him around for the rest of the night; who had called so loyally, rain or shine, only to never reach the person on the other end? An old number? A wrong number?

 

A burst of fancy seizes him when he's on the verge of sleep and he rolls out of bed, fumbling for the phone, the large shape awkward in his hands even as a traitorous finger hits call. Daniel brings the phone to his ear with a trembling hand; he's nervous but why is he nervous? He doesn't know but his heart is still pounding to a staccato beat. _It's not going to connect_ , he thinks to himself, _the number is so old, it's probably retired or disconnected._

 

The clock on his bedside table reads 12:00 AM but time seems to be suspended in that moment, reality stutters around him with every ring of the dial tone that swells in the silence.

 

There's a faint click on the other end yet the sound seems to reverberate through his bones, he hears a shaky exhale but is unsure whether it's him or the stranger on the other end.

 

"You called back," and the wonder in their voice is suffocating, its heart wrenching how those three words are tinged with such awe and hope.

 

"I," Daniel has never regretting his fit of impulse more, knowing what his words will bring, "sorry, I just found this phone…….I don't think I'm who you were waiting for."

 

"Oh."

 

A single syllable suffused with pain so palpable, voice hollow, empty, empty, as if an entire soul has drained out though the receiver and scattered into particles along the wire.

 

"Sorry," he says again awkwardly.

 

"It's, it's okay," the other person gives a little laugh, a half-startled little thing as if he isn't sure how to cradle the truth to his bosom and so laughs in the face of it instead, "I apologize if this sounds odd but, would you, would you mind staying on the phone with me for a moment? I just, I don't think I can be alone right now."

 

"O-of course," Daniel scrambles to agree, "Um, do you, do you just want me to talk?"

 

"Yes please, if you don't mind?" the request comes in a hesitant, airy tenor, words polite and stilted, "About anything. Anything is fine. I just really need someone else's voice right now."

 

"Okay, talking, I can do that, I'm great at talking," he rambles, stretching out on his bed, "My friends say I talk _too_ much, but they all talk a lot too, so it's okay, but it's also really loud. Oh! I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Kang Daniel, I just moved recently and I'm living on my own now, no roommates or anything, and it's weird how quiet it is. I have two cats, Peter and Rooney, and I don't know if you can hear but Peter is here right now beside me, purring."

 

He fumbles with the phone and holds it closer to Peter, whispering, "Here, can you hear it? She's happy so she's purring."

 

The stranger laughs, "I can, she sounds lovely. But I thought Peter was a boy's name?"

 

Daniel laughs too now, that tight feeling in his chest releasing, "It is, but I was younger when I first found Peter and I didn't know she wasn't a boy."

 

The stranger laughs again, the sound coming more easily now, "You're funny, Daniel. Ah, Daniel, that's a nice name…..I'm so sorry I asked this of you so suddenly, but it's nice to hear something other than my own voice. Lord knows I hear it enough all day long."

 

"Oh?" Daniel rolls over so he could rest the heavy phone on his bed and lie with it close to his ear instead of having to hold it up, "Do you have to talk a lot for work? On the phone?"

 

"Not on a phone, no, I'm a radio DJ. But it's mainly a music program and not a lot of people call in, so it's just me talking to myself in a booth all day."

 

"Oh! That's so cool though!" Daniel kicks his feet in the air in excitement, cooing to himself when Rooney rolls over and starts working his paws in the air as if copying him, "I'm a physiotherapist, specializing in sports injuries. I started working with high school varsity teams recently."

 

He chatters away, happy to have someone who is willing to listen to his day and doesn't mind that he goes off tangents at least five times before he finishes a single story. Soon he's biting back yawns and his new friend catches it and chuckles lowly.

 

"You sound tired, I think you should sleep now if you have work tomorrow."

 

Daniel likes to think that those words have a teasing quality. "Yeah," he admits, "Yeah, I really should, uh-"

 

"I never did introduce myself, did I?" the stranger muses, "My apologies, I enjoyed listening to your stories and it slipped my mind. My name is Seongwoo, Ong Seongwoo."

 

"Seongwoo," Daniel tastes the name on his tongue like it was something precious, a momentary thrill that trickles down his throat like snowmelt, the first snowflake he catches on his tongue on a winter day.

 

"Yes, thank you for talking to me, Daniel."

 

"My pleasure," he says and is surprised to find that he means it, "I, um, Seongwoo-ssi, do you mind, c-can I call you tomorrow night?"

 

Seongwoo is silent for a moment and Daniel holds his breath with trepidation. _Stupid stupid stupid,_ he scolds, _they're still strangers, how did he forget?_

 

"Tomorrow night……I, I think I would like that."

 

"Yeah?"

 

"Yes. I think I would like that very much."

 

"Okay, okay, tomorrow night. Good night Seongwoo, sweet dreams."

 

"Good night, Daniel, sweet dreams to you as well."

 

The receiver clicks and the world starts spinning again, he feels breathless and giddy clutching that clunky old phone to his chest.

 

He waits for the world to right itself, for this to pass, but it doesn't. The anticipation only fizzles slowly until it settles low in his veins, bubbles popping against his skin, a persistent hum. He feels like a child again, five years old and waiting desperately for tomorrow to come, for his birthday, for a school trip, for Christmas.

 

Daniel falls asleep still hugging the ancient phone to his chest, a smile colouring his lips with the taste of tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Full disclosure, I have absolutely not idea what happened. I'm still struggling with all my WIPs but then this came out instead. 
> 
> If you have a moment, leave me a comment below? It's been so long I feel like I'm rusty, so this is short but I hope it's still okay.


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